Customer Reviews

The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It took me longer than usual to finish a book of this size. Inside of this little book was heart wrenching anguish and I just could not read it through without interruptions, reading other things and giving myself a rest.
Is Ms. Derracotte a victim of the tragic mulatto syndrome or is some of her anguish of her own making?

Coming from an upper class African American family that has kept the blood line "light and bright" for generations, the author's journey as a white- looking black woman comes to a climax when she moves to an all-white exclusive neighborhood in New York. It's not that they don't want her there, they just don't want her trying to assimilate into their way of life. The fact that she conducted the initial business of purchasing the house without her husband (he was more identifiable black, thus she participated in the " passing" game.) should have been a clue, nevertheless she was determined to make them accept her. And this is where I had conflict. Why would a black woman who was raised around other affluent blacks, accepted and identified as black, want to be in these people's country clubs and social circles? Why did she not avail herself to the groups that she grew up among, The Links, Jack and Jill, etc. and be happy where she would be accepted. Even as a poet/writer there are groups to belong, many of them interracial who will accept one on the basis of common goals.

More than a book on a woman conflicted by her blackness of lack thereof is the sad commentary on race identity and how America has pitted blacks among each other based on skin color going back to slavery. Nella Larson, Jessie Fauset, and Wallace Thurman and numerous other authors have written on the this issue of characters who are conflicted and the schizophrenic existence they live. Also how one's family views and upbringing affects how we feel about ourselves. When pride in one's race and self and not enough self-love is not stressed enough then we have these kind of stories. Some blacks of the author's background have similar stories, others do not go through this much drama.

I met Ms. Derracotte about three years ago when she was a writer-in-residence at Mills College here in Oakland. I went to her reading, met her and have to say that she seems more at peace with herself. She is a cofounder of a writers retreat for African American poets. In answer to one reviewer who asked what was the point of this book, I think the answer was this was a catharsis, a cleansing for her soul.

Toi Derricotte is an African American poet with skin so light that she claims she's often mistaken for white.  What's more startling is that Terricotte isn't always upset when this happens.  We have heard discourse from other light-skinned African Americans about the dangers of passing, and more often than not, these people feel a need to be somehow more committed to 'the community' and 'the nation' than their darker-skinned compatriots. What we haven't heard is the voice of a woman who is conflicted about her own feelings about blackness, and how she distances herself from darker-skinned African Americans.

The Black Notebooks is a literary memoir written over the space of twenty years. In it Derricotte discusses the distance she places between herself and other darker-skinned African Americans, her obsession with joining an all-white country club even after her neighbors have made it perfectly clear that an invitation will never be forthcoming, as well as her experiences with being the only Black poet in residence at a well-known writer's colony.  Much in the way that GLBT people have coming out experiences wherein they disclose their sexual orientation, Derricotte has similar revealing moments when she has to reveal to whites that she is in fact African American.  

Rather than being exhausting, Derricotte's memoir is a brave reflection on how it feels to navigate safely (albeit not comfortably) between two worlds, and how this navigation affects her mental health. The book isn't written as a plea for understanding or acceptance, it simply is. Her honesty over her recalcitrant feelings is like nothing else I've ever seen, and for that reason alone, it's a worthwhile read.

I liked the book, and I really wanted more about certain things. It's interesting to get a glimpse into her world and its extraordinary circumstances. Her story helps to identify the nuances of racism today. Also, she zeroes us in on some very intimate moments in her life, and that raises questions about human relations in general. I thought it was brave of her to share like this. I'm sure I would read another installment if she wrote one.

This book is deliciously disturbing. You will not be able to look at people and the concept of race in the same way after reading this masterpiece. It is truely one of those books that is worth reading again!

The Black Notebooks is likely the most unabashed work I've ever read about the human experience in America. Add to that the issue of race, identity, and desperate desire to 'fit' and 'be' In--only to be denied--and you have a poignantly engrossing treatise on Race, Psychology and Sociology in the US, Mid-To Late 20th Century. Within this book Derricotte exposes her trauma of living as a woman who visually (to whites mostly) appears to be white, and because of it, is relentlessly bombarded with slurs and racist ideology, spoken as plain as day and without apology or consciousness. These routine offerings (endured) by the white people in the author's life are perpetrated because of the belief that she is 'one of them.'

What is grinding in Derricotte's work is that recurring moment of awareness within herself that she is black and that others speaking so shamelessly do not see it. Further, the author must then decide [again and again] to address the slights (by telling them of her ethnicity) or ignore them out of fear of being 'found out' and alienated/ostracized by the society that she chooses to surround herself with. And that is, in the midst of what has to be a schizophrenia-inducing ongoing nightmare, part of the issue--left unadressed--as I see it. Derricotte has been raised in a middle-class/upper-class world where she says all the people she knew loved and touched were black--albeit apparently of lighter flesh tone like she is. That said, her choosing to live exclusively among whites seems like an escape from everyone else--even though her husband is visibly black, though he was raised in an all white environment and never saw himself, his blackness as something of an asset.

It seems to me that Derricotte could have made different choices earlier in her life that would have reduced the bludgeoning of racism she faced on a daily basis by choosing often to hide in the midst of white society. Perhaps her upbringing--for all its exceptional and exclusionary (among other blacks) 'qualities' contributed significantly and maybe unconsciously to her wanting to be buried in the bosom of whiteness.

Many paradoxes exist within this memoir. The psychological dismantling, soul shredding and ultimately soul expanding experiences offered here are without a doubt, memorable, indelible and personal. And in some ways, universal, because the ultimate goal of living is to, in fact, live, and to love, celebrate and rejoice the gift of life itself. For all of the author's courageous, outrageous and intense revelations on race and identity, we are made more whole because of her honest sharing and unique perspective on the subjects of racism and all the other isms that are a byproduct of it.

This book is recommended to anyone wanting to dive headfirst into the murky waters of self-discovery through and ultimately beyond race.

At least I think it will. Reading it as a white female, I feel that this book helped me realize (and at least make my way towards understanding) the constant awareness of race that nonwhites feel while walking around. I read this book as part of a class in which we read many other texts about race and so it was one of many that helped me with this. It might seem silly, but it was very easy for me before to ignore the pressure and importance that race plays in everyday life in America. I may not be aware of it, but every day the fact that I am white allows me privilege that I would not otherwise have.

Call it my own ignorance, but for me that is what this book was about. Someone else will read it differently, depending on their history and race. For me, one of the good things about this book was that it helped show that racism was more than just the individual prejudices of a few people but was not written in an academic way. One of the other reviewers complained that Derricotte seems to want everything - pass in the white world as white and be accepted in the black community. That might be true, but that is not the feeling that the book left me with - and that might be because I am white and thus perhaps do not understand the consequences of racism as well.

Call it as you will. I loved the book, although it was hard for me to read. But it might not have the same impact on you as it did on me.

(By the way, I am reading the tag suggestions and what does the Rwandan Genocide have to do with a book about a light-skinned African-American woman in upper-class America? What is wrong with these tags?)

The book is structured as a series of journal entries, but it is nevertheless carefully considered and constructed. It provides an unusual perspective on racism in America, from the perspective of a very light skinned African American woman. She recounts her experiences in vivid detail, and they are intellectually and emotionally powerful. Most importantly, Derricotte does not settle for simple analyses or easy answers, but lets the complexity of her life and her place in various communities come through, with all the attendant messiness. As such, I'm not surprised that this book has drawn widely disparate reviews from readers. I consider it DEFINITELY worth reading.

Derricotte's fascinating discussion of her life as a light-skinned, black women in white America is overwhelmingly powerful. Her blunt, but compassionate prose clearly illuminates the myriad of conflicts encountered within our diverse society. Particularly striking was writing detailing her experiences of living in a predominately white neighborhood, and her soul-searching interactions with her darker-skinned husband. In addition, vignettes focusing on her experiences within the classroom starkly illustrated how even the youngest members of our culture must navigate the complexities of race. Her ability to represent and authenticate the struggles and rages she faces as a woman of color was particularly affirming to myself as I address similar issues in my own life. Derricotte's work is cogent and timely. And those who permit themselves to read her intelligent composition will finish enlightened and fulfilled.

I joined a reading group at the university and The Black Notebooks is one of the required reads for the discussion. I quickly searched Amazon for this book and found it in hardcover and was excited. I recently attended the group and Toi was our guest speaker--she signed the book for me and now I feel as though I have a treasure to keep. Many thanks for your quick delivery.

The language is gorgeous. The honesty is palpable. The rigorous (self) examination is thorough. And as a bi-racial/ethnic person myself (not the same makeup or specifics as derricotte), she was able to articulate so many things of my experience that have been so impossible to find language for. Bravo.